We’ve been without an oven for well over a month now. Luckily the change in the seasons has meant that we don’t need quite as many pies and roasts as before. But my god I miss my bread. Shop-bough bread sucks. It’s light and airy and burns in the toaster. It’s over-priced. Posh bread is expensive and disappointing. Anyway, this isn’t about bread, but I obviously needed to get that off my chest. This is about some lovely little (enormous really) smoked salmon scotch eggs that were great as a dinner, perfect for picnics and just pleasing to have around. They’re lighter than the traditionalsausagemeat ones, but equally delicious, and require no oven. Hurrah.

I first came across the idea at The Boot Inn, which is a fantastic pub that serves slightly unusual yet reasonably priced food. This was the first time I’d tried making them and I pretty much made it up, although I did steal the idea of adding mashed potato from James Martin as they goop didn’t stick enough around the hard-boiled eggs. So I guess it’s a bit like a fish cake, smothering a hard-boiled egg, coated in breadrumbs and deep-fried. Yum. I served it with new potatoes, spinach and a chive and red onion creamy sauce. I had thought we’d manage two each, but my god these turn into beasts, so just one sufficed. So the dinner that night was delicious, but I think they’re actually better the next day, cold.